What's New in Neurofeedback
A Monthly Summary of News and Events

Vol. 11 No. 7 - July 2008

This newsletter is sponsored by EEG Spectrum International, Inc., the leader in providing neurotherapeutic services and training professionals.  Past issues are available at http://start.eegspectrum.com/Newsletter/  To subscribe via yahoogroups.com or cancel a subscription, see info at the bottom. Opinions in this newsletter reflect those of the author only.  Copyright (c) 2008 by ESII or David Kaiser, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

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Announcements  - News

In the Spotlight     - Mindshare

News & Reviews - Books & journal papers

Events & Locations - Conferences, Courses

Last Word    - William James' words 
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 Announcements

Direct Gaze Enhances Face Perception
Towards Zero Training For Brain-computer Interfacing
Mechanism Behind Cocaine Craving Identified
Cocaine-induced Synaptic Plasticity Linked To Persistent Addictive Behaviors
Molecular Switch Boosts Brain Activity Associated With Schizophrenia
Sleep Selectively Preserves Emotional Memories
Infant Sensitivity To Negative Emotional Expressions Develops At Around 6 Months
'Erasing' Drug-associated Memories May Stop Drug Addiction Relapses
Sensitivity To Antidepressants Linked With TrkB-mediated Neural Proliferation

Links at http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/mind_brain/

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In the Spotlight

Mindshare

Emancipate yourself from mental slavery/None but ourselves can free our minds. --B Marley

I discovered of late that my autistic child was undergoing the Forbidden Experiment at his special ed school. His primary aid told me she always shut down his talk about videogames and the Internet -- wouldn't tolerate it at all -- and she was proud of this clamping down on his interests and mindshare. She thought it best to instruct him unidirectionally, and they isolated him from his peers. Imagine if you grew up in a one-room school where it was just you and the teacher and the other children were kept away for most of the day. Now add a Yahweh-like experience of oneself to the picture, because an autistic mind is closer to God's form of thought than our own. The oneness. God is one (or alone, depending upon your translation from Hebrew). Recall the early Old Testament tantrums in response to misunderstanding or slights and you have much of my boy's behavior. But unlike some autistic children, his language skills are reasonably well developed, although his social habits are immature, partly due to the social deprivation. He is nearly a Nim Chimpsky, as his teacher refuse to entertain even for a moment his take of the world, which is like most boys his age, prevaded by videogames. To understand Nim Chimpsky and the Forbidden Experiment, see http://start.eegspectrum.com/Newsletter/nov2005.htm#section1. Would it have been so hard to find what interests the child and organize class lessons around it? His five year old brother can read well above his years because he was motivated to do so. Navigating menu screens and chat bubbles in "Adventure Quest" and other videogames had to be understood if he were to win these challenges. We all are guilty of Nimming our kids, and friends, and coworkers at times. We cannot always follow our kids' interests and conversations about various "bosses" or "fiends" or "magic swords" from their games. To keep sane in our busy and demanding society, we are all guilty of Nimming others and ignoring their intentions wholesale, if only for a moment or an hour.

All social animals are predisposed to convey their intentions to others, and autistic children are not an exception. Ochs & Schieffelin (1984) believe that a child learns his parents' language in order to communicate his intentions, to assist himself in his or her enterprises. Simplification of the "puzzle" of language -- speaking parentese to a child, with pitch and elongation to help one communicate -- may be advantageous, but simplification in itself will not motivate a child to learn. The child must have something at stake. The child, in short, has a personal investment in the acquisition of language. The sooner s/he can communicate clearly and effectively, the sooner s/he can reap the benefits of his culture (i.e., life as a social organism).

According to Catherine Snow (1979), the role of social input is to assist the child in language acquisition. In middle-class America, mothers, other adults, even young children, will accomodate the child. For instance, mothers often expand the child's utterances to assist learning of syntax; they adopt the child's point of view to communicate primarily relevant semantic information, and let the child's behavior direct the conversation, etc. Snow emphasizes the mother's effort to communicate with the child, This study may be ethnologically biased, however Ochs and Schieffelin studied children in two different cultures (in Samoa and Kaluli) where adults did not need perform such accomodating measures. They found that a culture's ideology about language plays an important role in shaping the interactions of caregiver and child. In Samoa and in Kaluli, the primary role of the caregiver is not to sssist the children in the acquisition of language, as Snow implies; the role of the caregiver is to socialize the children. The interactions of caregiver and child reflect that culture's social order and customs.

A child's social reality propels him or her to learn language. Cultures are so complex and conventional and absolutely necessary for human survival, a child learns to speak as a means to cope with such a vast and complex environment. The acquisition of language represents a step toward social mastery. Ochs and Schieffelin argue that it is the child's efforts to communicate with others that underlies language acquisition. Specific social acts, such as drawing other's attention to an object or requesting, emerge prior to language acquisition. Language develops out of the need to communicate. Children acquire linguistic forms, not from maturational influences alone, but according to his or her specific culture's insistence and preferences for those forms. In Kaluli, children are encouraged to engage in begging behavior, for example, and do not engage in labeling. Consequently, the child's first nominal form is an affected pronoun like "poor-me". Children from middle-class America often engage in games of labeling with a caregiver and their first nominal forms occur during these acts. In short, social and cultural norms constrain and adapt the child's predisposition to acquire language.

Bates (1975) discovered that second children, twins, and institutionalized children may learn language more slowly than children whose input comes mainly from adults. In America, adults accomodate their speech so as to be more relevant to a child. Younger peers are more egocentric and less likely to alter their speech so as to help younger children understand. Although it is not proven that semantically relevant speech is crucial for normal language development, it is advantageous -- which makes me wonder about cultures such as Samoa and Kaluli which do not accomodate the disadvantaged child. Do these children develop the same level of empathy and self-appreciation and self-esteem as children reared in a more accomodating households? Could a child's cognitive development be affected by lack of accomodation, for better or for worse? Although Ochs & Schieffelin report that Samoan and Kaluli children reach a similar level of linguistic expertise as their Western counterparts, this difference in customs between cultures might help explain the differences between our cultures. A culture where adults adapt their behaviors to suit less able members may internalize the social bond in those members; that is, the assisted individuals may want to conform to society in order to repay such kindnesses and understanding. Such accomodations may go unnoticed, and probably prolong egocentrism, resulting in greater mental illness and maladaptations to society, but a strong internalization of the social bond may reap greater benefits for all. A child who believes that others (e.g., his mother) share his perspective, or adapt to him, may be more motivated to share his future successes on those around him, than individuals reared in a culture which paid little notice to his difficulties and forced him as a child to adapt to it.

Infants are not only biologically predisposed to language acquisition, but appear to be biologically predisposed to socializing forces, such as eye gaze, vocalizations, body alignment. It might be the biological predisposition in an infant for socialization, more than the capacity for language, which provides the necessary impetus for language acquisition. A child must of course be genetically predisposed for phonemic parsing and other language processes, but the social environment canalizes these predispositions, providing it form and reason for its development. Ochs & Schieffelin's and Snow's views are reconcilable on the level of pragmatics. Language is acquired through conversation. A child and mother (others) want to convey intentions to the other individual. Language acquisition serves a social need. Without the desire and need for such elaborate communication between individuals, language and its acquisition would be an empty, unrewarding puzzle.

In other words, it is the force of connection which drives language acquisition. We ought to assess this force and identify possible impediments to social connection when working with language deficits. Language processing deficits may be mired in social problems, especially those skills developed in the right cerebral hemisphere (emotional tone, pragmatics, and other social aspects of communication). Treating language problems requires us to unNim the other, to share their mind, not just our own. Language is a class without teachers, where all students are teachers, Mindshare 101.

-DK

P.S. I have my own personal story of language acqusition that is culturally driven. I never learned to say my "r"s correctly -- my /ahhhs/ -- because few within 100 miles of my development spoke any "r"s except to end words like "idears" (Boston area). I underwent speech therapy in 1st grade and perfected the "pl" sound of play and "th" sound of three -- both had given me trouble -- but my tutors never corrected the absence of "r" in my speech because, to them, its presence was optional at best.

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News & Reviews

NEW BOOKS

 Divorce Casualties: Protecting Your Children from Parental Alienation
by Douglas Darnall
Assistance to parents so that they recognize subtle causes of alienation and are able to minimize damaging effects before divorce permanently impacts a child's mental health. --http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0878332081/eegspectrum

 The Human Frontal Lobes: Functions and Disorders
by BL Miller, JL Cummings
Role of frontal lobe dysfunction in psychiatric disorders is explored for schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, antisocial behavior, and other conditions. --http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1572303905/eegspectrum

 Reducing the Risks for Substance Abuse: A Lifespan Approach
by RP Daugherty CG Leukefeld
In response to failues of "zero-tolerance" approach, a dynamic alternative "the Lifestyle Risk Reduction Model" is suggested that reshapes accepted alcohol and drug premises, messages, and strategies to make them relevant throughout the entire lifespan. --http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0306458993/eegspectrum

 Alternative Medicine Guide to Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia and Environmental Illness
by Burton Goldberg
Provides medical, anatomical, biological, nutritional and chemical explanations of symptoms and causes of CFS and related disorders, with recommendations for recovery. --http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1887299114/eegspectrum

 Fathering the ADHD Child: A Book for Fathers, Mothers, and Professionals
by Edward H. Jacobs
According to this clinical psychologist, fathers and mothers often view their ADHD child very differently, leading to common misunderstandings, and to fathers and mothers feeling misunderstood and failing to work together. The author discusses the discrepancy in order to enrich the parenting team to benefit the ADHD child. --http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0765700689/eegspectrum 
 
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JOURNAL PAPERS

Subjective and objective measures of sleep in children with ADHD : Children with ADHD have less sleep, which is more disturbed, and more problematic behaviors on the parental reports. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18693137

Prevalence of chronic pain after traumatic brain injury : Prevalence of chronic pain was greater in patients with mild TBI (75%) and occurs independent of depression, PTSD, or other psychologic disorders. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18698069

Spiritual direction in addiction treatment: Two clinical trials. : Spiritual guidance had no effect on spiritual practices or substance use outcomes at follow-up. In fact at one followup, more improvement was seen for depression and anxiety in the controls. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18657945

Method of double feedback for stress-induced functional disorders : Voluntary reduction/activation of EEG components via biofeedback was complemented by a resonance stimulation approach to help the individual overcome difficulties of conscious control of feedback. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18689250

White-matter hyperintensities in first-episode psychosis. : White-matter hyperintensities (WMH) have been associated with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but this study found no associated with vulnerability to psychosis and WMH. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18700214

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  Events & Locations Upcoming Courses

4-Day Comprehensive Course on Neurotherapy (dates subject to change)

-Cleveland OH Oct 16-19
-Durham NC Nov 13-16

Our course is a hands-on experience right from the start. Attendees consistently say this format is a very good way to learn neurofeedback.

"Neurofeedback should be viewed as one of the three essential or primary forms of intervention - psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, and neurofeedback. In my experience, neurofeedback is every bit as important and powerful as the other two forms of treatment." - Dr. Laurence Hirshberg, Brown University Medical School, psychologist specializing in Developmental Disorders and Autism.

Contact Karie Kramer, our training coordinator, for more information 818-789-3456 ext 847 or see www.eegspectrum.com/Training

* EEG Spectrum International, Inc. is approved by the APA to offer continuing education to psychologists. ESII maintains responsibility for the program.
 

Conferences for Neurofeedback Clinicians & Researchers
CONFERENCE                         LOCATION                          DATES
ISNR - www.isnr.org           San Antonio, TX            Aug 28-Sep 1 

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 Last Word

William James' words

William James (1842–1910) was an influential philosopher and America's first psychologist, as well as brother of famed author Henry James. He was trained as a medical doctor, as many empirical philosphers are, and he wrote a series of influential works known by nearly all psychologists, "The Principles of Psychology" and "The Varieties of Religious Experience." Here is some of his wisdom in packets:
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A man has as many social selves as there are individuals who recognize him.

Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune.

Action may not bring happiness but there is no happiness without action.

An idea, to be suggestive, must come to the individual with the force of revelation.

Begin to be now what you will be hereafter.

Belief creates the actual fact.

Compared to what we ought to be, we are half awake.

Could the young but realize how soon they will become mere walking bundles of habits, they would give more heed to their conduct while in the plastic state.

Do something everyday for no other reason than you would rather not do it, so that when the hour of dire need draws nigh, it may find you not unnerved and untrained to stand the test.

Every man who possibly can should force himself to a holiday of a full month in a year, whether he feels like taking it or not.

Everybody should do at least two things each day that he hates to do, just for practice.

Genius... means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way.

Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.

I will act as if what I do makes a difference.

If any organism fails to fulfill its potentialities, it becomes sick.

If you care enough for a result, you will most certainly attain it.

If you want a trait, act as if you already have the trait.

Let everything you do be done as if it makes a difference.

Man can alter his life by altering his thinking.

Many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.

Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second.

Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.

Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power.

The aim of a college education is to teach you to know a good man when you see one.

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.

The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.

The greatest enemy of any one of our truths may be the rest of our truths.

The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.

The ideas gained by men before they are twenty-five are practically the only ideas they shall have in their lives.

The world is all the richer for having a devil in it, so long as we keep our foot upon his neck.

There is but one cause of human failure. And that is man's lack of faith in his true Self.

There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision.

Time itself comes in drops.

To be a real philosopher all that is necessary is to hate someone else's type of thinking.

To be conscious means not simply to be, but to be reported, known, to have awareness of one's being added to that being.

To change ones life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly.

To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal.

Religion is a monumental chapter in the history of human egotism.

We are all ready to be savage in some cause. The difference between a good man and a bad one is the choice of the cause.

We have to live today by what truth we can get today and be ready tomorrow to call it falsehood.

When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice.

Whenever you're in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging your relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude.

Wisdom is learning what to overlook.

Whenever two people meet, there are really six people present. There is each man as he sees himself, each man as the other person sees him, and each man as he really is.

No matter how full a reservoir of maxims one may possess, and no matter how good one's sentiments may be, if one has not taken advantage of every concrete opportunity to act, one's character may remain entirely unaffected for the better.

Truth is what works.

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